Articles on Resigning with dignity, and Avoiding the Counteroffer Trap
Forbes Magazine: Job Seekers - How To Gracefully Quit Your Job
Forbes Magazine: What to do When the Boss Begs You to Stay
Harvard Business Review: If You’re About to Take a New Job, Should You Consider Your Boss’s Counteroffer?
The Hired Guns: Should you Accept a Counteroffer?
The Balance Careers: How to Decide if You Should Accept a Counteroffer
The Balance Careers: How to Resign From Your Job (An Overview of Multiple Scenarios)
The Wall Street Journal: How to Leave Your Job Gracefully
Your Resignation Process
Congratulations on accepting your exciting offer!
Now comes a tricky and potentially emotional step, your resignation. Resigning from a current job is never easy, but there are steps you can take to make the process efficient and less emotional while maintaining good relations with your current employer.
A. Plan ahead to resign early in the morning. The day before, try to calendar a specific time early the next morning to meet with your supervisor, so you know this event will happen as planned.
B. Always have a printed, signed letter to hand deliver. The time they take to read your short letter when you hand it across their desk breaks the ice for the conversation ahead. A letter also provides documentation for HR. Short and simple! There is no need to elaborate on reasons for leaving. There is also no valid reason to reveal your compensation, or the specific duties, in your new role.
[DATE]
Dear [NAME OF SUPERVISOR],
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of my resignation, effective immediately, with my planned last day of employment to be [SPECIFIC DATE]. I have accepted a position that more closely aligns with my personal and professional goals. My tenure with [CURRENT COMPANY] has been highly rewarding, and I appreciate the opportunity to have worked with you. I wish both you and [CURRENT COMPANY] continued success and I will do my best to help you during my transition period.
Best Regards,
[SIGNED, you]
C. Be prepared for any of the three common ways companies and managers react to resignations:
1. Sometimes there is anger along with an outpouring of personal disappointment. This can possibly include personal verbal attacks and prolonged questioning of your motives for leaving.
2. After the meeting, they may appear to go completely dark, even disappearing for hours or days, leaving you to wonder, while they strategize on how to talk you out of it or create a counteroffer.
3. Many employers will act professionally, and while expressing mild disappointment, regret, and surprise, they will also quickly congratulate you and wish you well in your new position.
D. Be mentally prepared to deal with a potential counteroffer during the meeting and in its aftermath. To avoid prolonged emotional engagement, be resolute in your resignation. If a counteroffer comes up, use statements like, “Thank you, I appreciate that, but I have already made a commitment to my new employer. I don’t want to use up any more of your time. Thank you for everything. I’m excited.”
Anticipate, but do NOT accept a tempting counteroffer to stay. Industry experience reveals that more than 80% of employees who accept a counteroffer leave – or are terminated – within six to twelve months. By resigning, you have made your employer aware that you are ready to go. From this day forward, your commitment will be in question. In most cases, accepting a counteroffer foreshadows your eventual departure from your company as the conditions leading to your desire to leave have not changed. The firm now knows that you are willing to go, and you cost them something to stay. Your joy on the path to new opportunities with your newly accepted offer can get sabotaged by your own emotions, including guilt, at this crucial juncture. Preparation leads to an optimal exit.